Destiny Altered
by aimtbj
Summary: I feel like there’s some sort of hole in me somehow. There’s a piece of me missing and I have no idea what it is. Post homecoming. Oneshot.


Greetings everyone! Thanks for checking out my first American Dragon fanfic! It's just a little one-shot that was inspired by the episode "Homecoming." I don't think there are spoilers in this, but it won't make since if you haven't seen the episode. Then again, I'm bad at dropping spoilers and not realizing it, so let's just say this is chalk full of stuff that you shouldn't know unless you've seen the ep. I hope you enjoy the fic guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did, they'd come back for a third season.

Hong Kong brings in tourists from all over the world. And what's not to like? The culture, the foreignness, the awesome souvenirs…these were the thoughts of the oldest girl in a family of four. Her family had just relocated to the booming city (a.k.a empire!) for the father's career. Sure, she was ripped from her friends and she had to learn Chinese, but what an opportunity! There was one thing wrong though—her twin sister should've been feeling the same way. They should've spent the long flight squealing in excitement about the adventures they would share. Instead, her younger-by-minutes sister had spent the duration of the plane ride in a funk. She wasn't interested in the scenery, in the tourist attractions, in her new home…and worse, she didn't even seem interested in her own sister. She had never shut herself off from her family before.

One week after the move

Rose sat in her bedroom, alone. It wasn't a bad house: cozy, good colors, new carpet smell. She got her own room, something she never got at the Hunts…her own home. There was that strange thought again! All week she would think something that seemingly had no relevance to the situation, and yet there was the sensation that deep down, those initial thoughts were al that mattered. Life was too confusing. There came a knock at her door, interrupting her brooding thoughts and reflections. She let out an inaudible groan.

"Rose? Honey, are you okay?"

Rose forced a smile. "Sure, Mom. I'm fine." Her mother took this as an invitation and the door soon creaked open.

"Are you sure, sweetie? I know this was hard, leaving home and everything, but your sister doesn't seem to be having much trouble…"

"I'm okay. Really."

Her mom flashed the classic 'I-know-you're-not-being-straight-with-me-young-lady' look and then began trying to weed her daughter's secret out. "Honey, I know we all agreed yesterday not to bring this up—"

Rose flushed crimson. "Then don't bring it up!"

"—but you can't tell me nothing is wrong when you attack a stuffed dragon while sightseeing."

"I wouldn't say I attacked it…"

"Your father said he had never seen a more perfect karate stance."

"Kung fu," Rose replied automatically, then caught herself. "I guess, um, I'm just stressed, so I'm taking it out on a physical object. A scary-looking object."

"That's all well and good sweetheart, but that doesn't explain what happened afterward."

"Do we really have to talk about this?"

"You started stroking the dragon and then you kissed its nose."

Rose lowered her head in shame. "I felt bad for kicking the dragon into three pieces, so I was trying to apologize."

"By cuddling up next to it?" Mom's glare was in full-blown exposure mode now. Rose took one look into her loving eyes and lost all resistance.

She sighed, trying to keep those stupid tears where they belonged—out of sight. "I don't know what it is, Mom, but I feel like there's some sort of hole in me somehow. There's a piece of me missing and I have no idea what it is." Her mom took her into her embrace and the tears spilled over. The woman stroked her daughter's hair and eventually succeeded in slowing the sobs down to slow hiccups. The mother did well to hide her shock though. Rose had never been one to burst into tears. She was always so strong.

Rose wiped away the tears fiercely, trying to destroy the evidence of her weakness. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Her mom wiped away her own tears, and put a loving arm around Rose's shoulder. "Did something happen at school last week? Maybe with that boy we saw you talking with before we left?"

There is was. That flare, that spark of recognition. Emotions and turmoil raging within, all carefully hidden behind the façade of teenaged girl. "I didn't really know him. He looked familiar…" She had to stop herself as she heard and felt her voice quiver. He was somehow involved in this feeling, but she had no idea how.

Fortunately, her mom seemed to buy it. Nodding, he ventured further. "Okay, is it maybe your friends?"

"I guess so, I mean I miss…" Numbers and labels surged forward instead of names, and Rose had to struggle to remember who it was she was thinking of. "…Courtney! I miss Courtney and…the other girls."

Up went her mom's eyebrow as she noticed the obvious forgetfulness on her daughter's behalf. "Uh-huh. Is there anything else, though? I mean," and her own voice wavered slightly. "do you resent your father and I for bringing you here?"

Rose sat up quickly. "No! Never! I'm just grateful to have found, er, have you guys!" She gave an uneasy laugh. "I guess, I'm just shaken up by the sudden change, but I know as long as I have you guys, I'll be okay."

_I'll be okay…_

Her mom smiled, believing she had finally uncovered the problem. And she really had gotten to the root of it, but roots go deep. There was so much more.

Rose smiled too, and gave her mom a final hug. "Thanks mom. I promise I'll get back to normal really soon."

"No rush sweetie: just try to resist shouting 'Ai ya!' every time someone surprises you. And to stop doodling axes and spears on the napkins. You're giving your sister the creeps!" The two shared a laugh and then her mom shut the door, satisfied with their amazing mother-daughter connection.

As soon as the door closed, Rose's smile vanished and she hugged her knees to her chest. There was something familiar about that dragon in the market that day.

_Something familiar…_

Rose brushed away a stray tear and stared outside her window. Out there was adventure and life. Out there was the piece of her that was missing. She would find and reclaim it, if only she could discover it! No. That wasn't right. If only she could _remember_ it.

She glanced down at her wrist and palm, to where a pink dragon twisted about her flesh. She had never wondered about it so much as right in this moment. Sure, she always found it bizarre to have a dragon naturally perched on her arm, but lately it seemed this strange mark had something to do with her emptiness.

_Actually it's a birthmark. It's kind of permanent._

She climbed into bed and pulled her covers over her head. What did her birthmark have to do with her strange feeling, and why was this happening? She hated feeling this way.

And perhaps the most mysterious of all, why had she been dreaming of a red dragon every night? And why did it seem to know her name?


End file.
